Mark 15:44

15:44 Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He ¹  called the centurion and asked him if he had been dead for some time.

Matthew 8:5-10

Healing the Centurion’s Servant

8:5 When he entered Capernaum, ²  a centurion ³  came to him asking for help: ⁴  8:6 “Lord, ⁵  my servant ⁶  is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible anguish.” 8:7 Jesus ⁷  said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8:8 But the centurion replied, ⁸  “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed. 8:9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. ⁹  I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, ¹⁰  and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ¹¹  ‘Do this’ and he does it.” ¹²  8:10 When ¹³  Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “I tell you the truth, ¹⁴  I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel!

Acts 10:1

Peter Visits Cornelius

10:1 Now there was a man in Caesarea ¹⁵  named Cornelius, a centurion ¹⁶  of what was known as the Italian Cohort. ¹⁷ 

Acts 27:1-3

Paul and Company Sail for Rome

27:1 When it was decided we ¹⁸  would sail to Italy, ¹⁹  they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion ²⁰  of the Augustan Cohort ²¹  named Julius. 27:2 We went on board ²²  a ship from Adramyttium ²³  that was about to sail to various ports ²⁴  along the coast of the province of Asia ²⁵  and put out to sea, ²⁶  accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian ²⁷  from Thessalonica. ²⁸  27:3 The next day we put in ²⁹  at Sidon, ³⁰  and Julius, treating Paul kindly, ³¹  allowed him to go to his friends so they could provide him with what he needed. ³² 

Acts 27:43

27:43 But the centurion, ³³  wanting to save Paul’s life, ³⁴  prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land, ³⁵ 

[15:44]  ¹ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[8:5]  ² sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.

[8:5]  ³ sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like the apostle Paul did.

[8:5]  ⁴ sn While in Matthew’s account the centurion came to him asking for help, Luke’s account (7:1-10) mentions that the centurion sent some Jewish elders as emissaries on his behalf.

[8:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “and saying, ‘Lord.’” The participle λέγων (legwn) at the beginning of v. 6 is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[8:6]  ⁶ tn The Greek term here is παῖς (pais), often used of a slave who was regarded with some degree of affection, possibly a personal servant (Luke 7:7 uses the more common term δοῦλος, doulos). See L&N 87.77.

[8:7]  ⁷ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “But answering, the centurion replied.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[8:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “having soldiers under me.”

[8:9]  ¹⁰ sn I say to this one ‘Go’ and he goes. The illustrations highlight the view of authority the soldier sees in the word of one who has authority. Since the centurion was a commander of a hundred soldiers, he understood what it was both to command others and to be obeyed.

[8:9]  ¹¹ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v. 1). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος) in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[8:9]  ¹² tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[8:10]  ¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:10]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:1]  ¹⁵ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). It was known as “Caesarea by the sea” (BDAG 499 s.v. Καισάρεια 2). Largely Gentile, it was a center of Roman administration and the location of many of Herod the Great’s building projects (Josephus, Ant. 15.9.6 [15.331-341]).

[10:1]  ¹⁶ sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like Paul.

[10:1]  ¹⁷ sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion (BDAG 936 s.v. σπεῖρα). The Italian Cohort has been identified as cohors II Italica which is known to have been stationed in Syria in a.d. 88.

[27:1]  ¹⁸ sn The last “we” section in Acts begins here and extends to 28:16 (the previous one ended at 21:18).

[27:1]  ¹⁹ sn Sail to Italy. This voyage with its difficulty serves to show how God protected Paul on his long journey to Rome. From the perspective of someone in Palestine, this may well picture “the end of the earth” quite literally (cf. Acts 1:8).

[27:1]  ²⁰ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:1]  ²¹ tn According to BDAG 917 s.v. σεβαστός, “In σπεῖρα Σεβαστή 27:1 (cp. OGI 421) Σεβαστή is likew. an exact transl. of Lat. Augusta, an honorary title freq. given to auxiliary troops (Ptolem. renders it Σεβαστή in connection w. three legions that bore it: 2, 3, 30; 2, 9, 18; 4, 3, 30) imperial cohort.” According to W. Foerster (TDNT 7:175), “In Ac. 27:1 the σπεῖρα Σεβαστή is an expression also found elsewhere for ‘auxiliary troops.’” In no case would this refer to a special imperial bodyguard, and to translate “imperial regiment” or “imperial cohort” might give this impression. There is some archaeological evidence for a Cohors Augusta I stationed in Syria during the time of Augustus, but whether this is the same unit is very debatable.

[27:2]  ²² tn Grk “Going on board.” The participle ἐπιβάντες (epibante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:2]  ²³ sn Adramyttium was a seaport in Mysia on the western coast of Asia Minor.

[27:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “places.”

[27:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[27:2]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4 states, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”

[27:2]  ²⁷ sn A Macedonian. The city of Thessalonica (modern Salonica) was in the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[27:2]  ²⁸ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[27:3]  ²⁹ tn BDAG 516 s.v. κατάγω states, “Hence the pass., in act. sense, of ships and seafarers put in εἴς τι at a harbor…εἰς Σιδῶνα Ac 27:3.”

[27:3]  ³⁰ sn Sidon is another seaport 75 mi (120 km) north of Caesarea.

[27:3]  ³¹ tn BDAG 1056 s.v. φιλανθρώπως states, “benevolently, kindly φιλανθρώπως χρῆσθαί (τινι) treat someone in kindly fashion…Ac 27:3.”

[27:3]  ³² tn Grk “to go to his friends to be cared for.” The scene is an indication of Christian hospitality.

[27:43]  ³³ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:43]  ³⁴ tn Or “wanting to rescue Paul.”

[27:43]  ³⁵ tn BDAG 347 s.v. I. ἔξειμι has “ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν get to land Ac 27:43.”